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India, May 5, 2010

How I Saved a Marriage on a Frankfurt FRA Jetway

Wedding band gone missing
So there I was, a Business Class flyer fighting the Economy Pax scrum to get on my FRA - IAD flight (where is the business/first separate entrance, LH?) and I've succeeded in getting through the boarding gate when I notice my shoelace came undone in the scuffle.

Kneeling down to tie it, I see this golden ring on the jetway floor. Being married myself, I instantly recognized it as a wedding ring and realized that soon there would be a heart attack on a flight with a loud: OH MY GOD! WHERE IS MY RING!!

Rather than having sheer panic reign in a passenger's heart - just how do you explain losing your wedding ring to a skeptic spouse after a business trip? - I handed it to the purser when I took my well appointed business class seat.

He proceeded to announce the discovery of a "wedding or engagement ring", which I noticed had everyone in business class looking down at their hands. I'm sure the same happened in economy, for the purser said that a man had quickly come forward in dazed state, accurately describing the ring and telling an interesting story.

He claimed he took it off when passing through security, placing it in the breast pocket of his shirt, where he also had his boarding pass. It must have come out when, after passing the scrum, he put the card in his pocket, then quickly retrieved it to note his seat.

I wonder why anyone would take off a wedding ring at security? I wear a Damascus steel wedding band, and it doesn't set off alarms - why would a thin gold ring be a worry then? Regardless, I doubt he'll ever take his ring off at security again. Just imagine the ensuing discussion...

"Honey, I swear - I took it off at security, you know what animals they are, and now I can't find it."

"No, I had it on the whole time - every day! I lost it in the airport. Someone must have picked it up."

"Her? No, no, NO! Why do you say that? I love you more than any ring could signify!"

"Ring tattoo? Are you serious?"

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India, May 4, 2010

Endless Vodafone India Mobile Phone Spam


That's text messaging spam
On my second day in Delhi, India, I bought a local SIM card from Vodafone India. Before the line activated to make an outgoing call, I got an inbound call. Picking it up, the caller surprised me - it was an automatic telemarketer call. Phone spam less than an hour after activation.

And the phone spam never stopped.

My entire time in India, I would get spam text messages and spam calls - 3-4 per day - in Hindi and in English promoting third party services and products. So it wasn't even Vodafone spamming me through my mobile phone, but India's version of late-night telemarketers.

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India, May 3, 2010

Sounds of Takeoff and Landing in Lufthansa Business Class on Boeing 747-400


Its different in business class
Traveling in business class is different in many ways from travel in economy class - especially in the sounds of takeoff and landing in a Boeing 747-400.

Business class in Lufthansa's 747 jet airplanes is right up front, the forward portion of seating curving inward to form the nose of the aircraft. The forward business class seating, where I write this from is also just below the pilot cabin and above the forward landing gear.

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India, May 1, 2010

Delhi Metro Rail Mass Transit System: a Modern Taj Mahal


Beauty in construction scaffolding
The New Delhi mass transit system "Metro" is a modern Taj Mahal in its beauty, scale, and achievement for the nation of India. This I have come to believe after riding it through the city center and visiting its newest stations, still under construction.

First the act of riding the New Delhi Metro system

Unlike so much in India, the Ne Delhi metro system is amazingly efficient. You can buy a ticket from the automated kiosk or from a station attendant. Prices are dirt cheap - maybe $0.30 per ride, anywhere along the system. And well worth the money.

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India, April 19, 2010

Qatar Airways Review: Business Class and Economy Seats


Zoning out in exit-row seats
With the Eyjafjallajokull volcano ash covering Europe and canceling my Lufthansa Business Class flight to New Delhi, India via Munich, I had to switch to Qatar Airlines to make the Educational Technology Debate.

I'd never flown the airline before and there were few trip descriptions to guide me - but others gave Qatar Airways good reviews, so I decided to give them a shot. With the closure of most European airports, I didn't have much choice.

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